John Bonnell started attending CMC in the summer of 2014, serving on the external ministry team, supporting life groups by writing curriculum and guiding group leaders, preaching occasionally, and teaching in the children’s ministry.
John works at Michigan State University on international development programs with African university partners. He has served as a pastor in Ohio, and as a teacher at a Christian university in Kenya
John has been serving as a Board Member/Elder since the spring of 2020.
John and his wife, Karen, live in East Lansing with their three children.
Xue, Xeumeing was born and grew up in China. He came to the US to study his PhD in Geophysics in 2015 at University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).
Before studying in the US, Xueming knew nothing about Christianity, nor did his family. In 2018, he put his faith in Christ.
Xueming transferred to Michigan State University (MSU) to continue his study and graduated in 2021. He has been a software engineer since then.
Xueming, and his wife Mengyan, learned about Christianity when they were in Alaska through the local Bridges International in UAF. Bridges International is a branch of Cru with a focus on sharing the gospel to international students. Now Mengyan is working as campus minister for Bridges at MSU.
Xueming and Mengyan joined Crossway in 2019. After a few years, especially during the time of Covid, they deeply reflected on how unity in Christ would look like among all the nations, and they are convinced by the value Crossway is working towards and how that is aligned with what Christ has done for us. They look forward to the next journey God has planned for them with Crossway.
Jim Eddy started attending CMC in the summer of 2014, serving and leading on the Finance Team and Setup Team.
Jim is a Certified Public Accountant working with Capital Area United Way. He was involved in Campus Crusade for Christ while attending MSU.
Jim has been serving as a Board Member since the spring of 2020.
Jim and his wife, Jean, reside in Haslett and have two adult children, a daughter-in-law and grandson.
Amara Ezeamama-Onye grew up in Port Harcourt metropolitan city in River State, Nigeria. Born in Anambra state, her father passed away when she was two years old leaving her mother to raise her and her seven siblings. Faith in a just God and trusting his providence constituted her earliest memory of her mother – Mrs. Sarah Ezeamama. To access better educational opportunities, she moved to Port-Harcourt at eight years old to live with wealthier relatives. Mostly out of duty, she attended church with the family but there was not a personal relationship with Christ.
At 12 years old, she was introduced to the concept of being “born again” by a female household staff caring for her relative’s children. This individual spoke about her faith in a brand-new way – it was personal, it was transformative and she talked about it constantly with joy and excitement. Amara was drawn to her many stories about her church experience and eventually began to study the Bible alongside her. She took every opportunity to visit her local church until she stopped working for the family.
Thereafter, she explored similar churches on her own until she left home for college. At college, she joined the Amazing Grace Student Fellowship at Obafemi Awolowo University and responded to the alter call. She began to grow in her personal faith and relationship with Christ but moved to the US soon after. Her faith journey continued as part of local churches wherever she lived: Los Angeles, California, Providence, Rhode Island and Athens, Georgia.
She and her husband, Bright were members of the same church in Providence, Rhode Island from 2001 to 2012. She moved to Michigan in 2016 and attended Crossway Multinational Church (CMC) for the first time in the summer of 2018 and has continued at CMC ever since. Across churches, she has served in the children’s ministry, intercessory prayer and hospitality ministries.
The bold vision of CMC – to be a church for, of and by peoples of many nations, in a highly polarized time left a deeply positive impression on her. Amara has also been both inspired and challenged by this vision which represents an important solution in a highly divided era. Her earnest hope is that many more people will experience what God is doing at CMC and choose to join in God’s ongoing work of building a church that mirrors His kingdom. At CMC, she is active in the children’s ministry, the prayer team, and the Crossway Board.